Parallel Jaw Machinist Clamps

A basic tool for most machinists is a parallel jaw clamp in several
sizes. One of our earlier class projects was to fabricate a parallel jaw
clamp.

The basic plans for these clamps came from pages 149-153 of The
Machinist"s Bedside Reader [first in a series] by Guy Lautard ISBN
0-9690980-2-2
The Guy's home page URL is http://www.lautard.com/books.htmYou can order the series of three readers from Guy's webpage or http://www.amazon.com/
These have also been on sale at several mail order mill supply outlets such as
Enco and Harbor Freight [see handy links section for urls.]

The basic clamp as assigned:
Clamp was completely machined on a lathe including angle cutting of the
jaws. This was done using a faceplate and right angle plate. Base
stock was 1 inch X 1 inch CRS surfaced on all sided to 3/4 inch square.
Holes were drilled on the lathe using the faceplate. 7/16 X 20
threaded rod [Allthread® or Readythread®] grade 5 was sued for the
screws. Knobs were turned from 3/4 inch diameter CRS bar stock to 5/8 inch
diameter, drilled and tapped for 7/16 X to threads, knurled and
parted-off. Knobs are "Loctited" on the threaded rods for
retention.

A some what fancier clamp with the corners rounded using a corner rounding
end mill and acorn nuts to allow increased clamping force. These nuts are
commercial items and were "Loctited" onto the shafts.

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last updated by GmcD on 19-Mar-11 19:30
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